QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) Short Interest Update

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,620,000 shares, a decrease of 12.1% from the January 31st total of 18,900,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 7,980,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

NASDAQ:QCOM traded down $1.43 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $156.21. The stock had a trading volume of 2,746,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,330,909. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.99. QUALCOMM has a 1-year low of $149.43 and a 1-year high of $230.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.29.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The wireless technology company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.93 by ($0.07). QUALCOMM had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 39.51%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that QUALCOMM will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.32%.

Insider Activity

In other QUALCOMM news, CAO Neil Martin sold 744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.83, for a total transaction of $130,073.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,596.63. This represents a 61.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Ann C. Chaplin sold 7,717 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.59, for a total transaction of $1,239,273.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 17,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,754,600.27. This trade represents a 31.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,045 shares of company stock worth $7,752,423. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in QUALCOMM in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. CKW Financial Group bought a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in QUALCOMM during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on QCOM. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on QUALCOMM from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of QUALCOMM in a research note on Monday, November 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.32.

About QUALCOMM

QUALCOMM Incorporated engages in the development and commercialization of foundational technologies for the wireless industry worldwide. It operates through three segments: Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT); Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL); and Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives (QSI). The QCT segment develops and supplies integrated circuits and system software based on 3G/4G/5G and other technologies for use in wireless voice and data communications, networking, computing, multimedia, and position location products.